Napurrula, Mitjili

Mitjili Napurrula, born in Papunya in 1945, witnessed the emergence of the Papunya Tula art movement. Her parents were Tupa Tjakamarra and Tjunkiya Napatljarri; her mother, Tjunkayi Napaltjarri, a Pintupi/Luritja woman and artist from Yumari, sought refuge in Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji) due to drought and later settled in Papunya. Mitjili's brother, Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, was a founding member of the Papunya Tula Artists cooperative.

In the late 1980s, Mitjili moved to Haasts Bluff with her husband, Long Tom Tjapanangka, during the outstation movement. They began painting at Ikuntji in 1992 with the opening of the Ikuntji Women’s Centre, contributing to the local art movement. She achieved international recognition after winning the Alice Springs Art Prize in 1999.

Her winning painting, *Untitled* (1999), features white pigment around abstract forms representing Watiya Tjuta (desert oak/spearwood trees) used for kulatas (spears). The Watiya Tjuta in her paintings represents her father’s Tjukurrpa (dreaming) in Ilyingaungau country (Gibson Desert), passed down by her mother. Mitjili recalled learning her father’s Tjukurrpa in the sand from her mother after she got married and then painting it on canvas.

Mitjili and her brother Tjupurrula shared the same father, Tupa Tjakamarra, inheriting the right to paint works related to Ilyingaungau. This site, south of Walungurru (Kintore), is where the Mutikatjirri ancestors assembled their kulata for a conflict. Allusive works referencing the straightening of kulata by Tjupurrula are significant in the movement's history.

Mitjili lived at an outstation near Papunya, continuing to paint alongside her family and artists like Ann Lane nee Dixon. She passed away in April 2019. She spoke the Luritja language and was associated with the Mount Liebig community.

Sources:
https://ikuntji.com.au/artist/mitjili-napurrula/?srsltid=AfmBOoq9m6qMQ1rdQBa3hDz4WPboQSt7ovQRA57Cw71K5A5SmTGYwH1i